


Army Men

by Chicklet_Girl



Category: Southland
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-14
Updated: 2009-05-14
Packaged: 2017-10-17 03:01:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/172216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chicklet_Girl/pseuds/Chicklet_Girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A vignette from John's POV, age four.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Army Men

**Author's Note:**

> Commentfic I wrote in **hackthis** 's journal; I'm just archiving it here. You can read it in context [here](http://hackthis.livejournal.com/529365.html?thread=15220949#t15220949). Written in 15 minutes in a Write or Die window, so, y'know. Not all that well thought-out, is what I'm saying. Including the title.

John sits in the dirt playing Army men and listening to the guys in the garage. They're all standing around his dad's new car, drinking beer and listening to the radio. John's dad tells a joke about a woman with two black eyes. John doesn't understand it, but the guys all laugh.

John has the Army men jump from the top of the doghouse into the dirt. The Rangers are the best, everyone says so. Well, Grandpa says so, anyway, and he was a Ranger, so he should know. The doghouse is a good place for them to jump from, because it's just high enough to be a big jump, but not so high John can't reach it. They don't have a dog anymore -- Sunny was gone one day when Mom and him got home from Grandpa's, and Mom cried all night -- but the doghouse is nice.

"What the fuck? Say that again, asshole." John's dad is mad. Again.

"Nothin', man. I didn't mean nothin'." Dave backs out of the garage, into the yard. He has his hands up, his beer sloshing out of the can.

"It wasn't nothing, Dave." Dad's fists come up and punch Dave, one two three, and Dave is on the ground. John's dad is big, with wide shoulders and big arms and short blond hair. Dave is thin like the Coyote in the cartoons, with a scraggly mustache and long hair. He sits on the dirt, backing up on his butt, trying to get out of the yard, but Dad just sits on Dave and keeps hitting. John backs up behind the doghouse, peeking around the corner. He can see blood on Dave's face.

None of the guys in the garage tries to stop Dad.

Suddenly, there are sirens. John thinks Mrs. Rieger from across the alley called the cops. She always watches John and tries to give him cookies.

The cops seem big, with their guns and boots and loud voices. One of them -- not as big as Dad -- pulls him off Dave and puts handcuffs on him. The other one takes a look at Dave and then goes to the squad car and says something into the radio.

"Ambulance?" Tommy asks. John doesn't like him because he's always hitting John on the back of the head, like it's supposed to be funny or something, and once he made John drink beer until he felt funny and fell asleep in front of the TV.

"Your pal's lucky we don't need to call the body wagon, fucko. You just let him beat the shit out of you? Like in a rotation or something?"

"Fuck you, Officer."

"You better hope that guy doesn't die, is all I'm saying."

They all stand around, John too, waiting for the ambulance. When John hears the siren, he can't stand it anymore, and he runs out the back gate, down the alley. Grandpa's house is three blocks away -- one up, two over, the green house on the corner, and John can run there really fast when he has to.


End file.
